1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to cardiac catheter devices and more particularly relates to an improved cardiac catheter apparatus that can be used in either percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) or percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) type catheter arrangements so that a convertible catheter apparatus is provided for optionally performing movable wire or fixed wire operations.
2. General Background
PTCA/PTA catheters were traditionally over the wire devices of either "fixed wire" configuration or "movable wire" configuration. These PTCA balloon catheter devices are used to recanalize and/or to re-perfuse blocked coronary arteries. Different anatomical layout, extent of coronary artery disease-blockage, and/or type of lesion composition, all determine the type of device selected for use (i.e., fixed wire v. movable wire).
Today, physicians performing PTCA readily encounter and perform "complex angioplasty"; multi-lesion multi-vessel PTCA. Thus, multiple device usage (fixed wire and movable wire) during a single patient case is commonplace.